Colin Greenwood

BERKELEY, CA - JUNE 23: Colin Greenwood of Radiohead performs as part of the bands North American Tour 2006 at the Greek Theater on June 23, 2006 in Berkeley California.

BEST KNOWN AS: bassist and sometimes keyboardist of experimental-rock exemplars Radiohead

THE INTEL: Perhaps the most academically inclined member of Radiohead — as smart a group as you’ll ever find — Greenwood studied modern American literature at Cambridge. A voracious reader whom bandmate Thom Yorke once speculated had probably “downloaded a library,” he is reportedly a fan of such authors as Thomas Pynchon, V.S. Naipaul and Delmore Schwartz. In a Radiohead profile written by New Yorker music critic Alex Ross — another writer Greenwood admires — Colin called his band “the E.M. Forster of rock.”

BRAINIAC RATING, ON A SCALE OF 1 TO 11: 8

EXTRA CREDIT: In 2003, Greenwood, an amateur photographer, offered his takes on some of his favorite photographs for an exhibition at London’s famed Victoria and Albert Museum.